


Dream Come True?

by merlin07



Category: David Tennant - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 19:38:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6579721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlin07/pseuds/merlin07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I wrote this at the end of David Tennant's reign as The Doctor, this was my first major attempt at fan fiction. I've written more since and will be posting them in the coming days.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The one thing he would not miss would be the late night shoots, he mused as he left the set. In the caravan he quickly changed out of the long coat and the brown suit, hanging it up neatly for the wardrobe person to collect for a cleaning, and into his own clothes. 

As he drove to the flat in Cardiff, he turned the car radio up loudly and opened the windows to the chill early morning air trying to keep awake, buoying himself with the promise of a hot shower and a warm bed. 

By the time he pulled into the car park he had amended that promise to just a warm bed, who cares if he smells bad? he laughed; he was sleeping alone tonight anyway! He was pretty sure that the bed wouldn’t reject him for not being squeaky clean, but mostly he was bone tired and he didn’t want to risk falling asleep in the shower.

When he opened the door of the flat he was a bit surprised to see the lights on, when he had left the previous afternoon, he was pretty sure they were off. No matter, he shrugged, and as he made his way back to the bedroom, turning the lights off as he went by and began peeling his clothes off. By the time he reached the bedroom he was in a vest and pants only.

He washed the makeup off his face, revealing a multitude of freckles and he regarded his reflection in the mirror. He noted the slight circles under his eyes, but they didn’t really bother him. He was about to remove his contacts when the mirror caught a movement behind him. He dropped the flannel and turned around but nothing was there. 

“I am tired,” he sighed, finished his absolutions and leaving the bathroom got into bed, and was almost immediately asleep.

He awoke some time later to a faint rustling sound. He rolled over and mumbled, “damn cat!” 

Just as the thought, “but I don’t have a cat” hit his sleep addled mind a figure appeared out of the dark, and a blue light jumped from the intruder’s hand hitting him square in the chest knocking him out cold.

As he came awake he mused over the odd dream he had just swum up from, he was just about to laugh at it when his eyes opened to find somehow he was on the TARDIS console room set, back at the studio. 

“What the hell?” He exclaimed sitting up on the jump seat. He was surprised to find he was fully clothed in the clothes he had thought he had taken off the night before, he felt a lump in his shirt pocket and removed and put on his glasses.

Sleepwalking was one thing, but sleep driving was another and how did he get past security into a locked studio? He wondered. 

Then he heard the familiar sound effects playing in the background the humming of the engines made him smile. “OK someone is playing a trick on me.” He laughed.

He rose from the seat and walked to what was usually the end of the set, only to find there was a lot more to it than he had seen before. It seemed to go on forever! Opening the TARDIS set’s doors he saw nothing but blackness and a rush of cold air hit him. 

“Right!” He thought, quickly shutting the doors again; “this is obviously still a dream. Or I’m going crazy.” 

He hadn’t realised he had said that last bit aloud until he heard a voice answer him, “it’s completely possible that you are.” The voice offered.

He looked around the room seeing no one else there, “Where are you?” he asked trying to keep his voice calm.

“Look up,” the voice directed.

And he did. The breath caught in his throat as he looked up at what should have been overhead light riggings, wires and cameras and saw a series of ramps and corridors that seemed to stretch on forever.

After a few moments he remembered that someone had spoken to him, he could make out on one of the upper passageways a figure leaning over the edge looking down on him. At this distance it could have been anyone.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“This is probably best explained at closer quarters,” the figure replied, “I’ll be down in a second.”

While waiting for the other man, he walked around the set; it was very familiar yet a bit different than the one he was used to. The basic layout was the same but there was much more to it.

As the figure got within three feet of him he stopped breathing. The man standing in front of him was dressed in a brown pin stripe suit and a long brown coat and looked exactly like him.

He took a moment to compose himself, his eyes wide as he took it all in, the entire time his doppelganger smiled at him.

The other him spoke first, “spooky huh? So you’re David, I’ve been watching you. Nice to finally meet you. Sorry about the zapping but I didn’t think you’d come willingly.”

He made a weird sound in the back of his throat, trying to speak but nothing came out.

“I’m the Doctor.” The other man continued.

“But you don’t really exist,” David finally squeaked out, his voice sounding like a 15 year old’s.

“Obviously I do,” the Doctor replied, his voice reasonable, “and I have been watching you on the telly playing me. You mostly got it right.”

“Mostly?”

“Wellll…pretty close.” The Doctor’s grin widened, “in fact when I first saw you I wondered if the metacrisis had escaped the alternate Earth and changed his name.”

“That really happened?”

“Of course it did. How could anyone just make that sort of thing up?”

David shook his head, still not quite sure he was really having this conversation, “so what’s the ‘mostly’ then?”

“OK, I lied…you are spot on.” The Doctor’s grin grew into a smile that lit up his entire face. “I didn’t realise you were Scottish until I saw one of those ‘confidential’ thingies.”

David sat back down on the jump seat as his legs were feeling weak, “I think I’ve finally lost it.” He mumbled half to himself. Then he pinched his arm hard.

The Doctor frowned, “what are you doing?”

“Trying to wake myself up!” He grimaced as he pinched himself even harder, “this can’t be happening.”

“Would it help if I pinched you?” The Doctor offered.

“Not sure.”

The Doctor reached over, and gave him a pinch, making him yelp and pull his arm away, “OK, so I’m awake. But I’ve obviously gone mad.”

The Doctor sat down next to him, “I know it’s all a bit much, and I’m sorry, so sorry, but this is important.”

David remained silent so The Doctor continued, “my last visit to Earth I heard you were leaving the show, which I guess is OK you humans have limited attention spans anyway. And I’ve had worse actors play me…” The Doctor stopped, a grimace on his face, then he shook himself and continued, “the thing is, I need your help with something.”

“This is insane, this is insane,” David started chanting under his breath.

“Would you stop that?” The Doctor snapped, rubbing his hands in his hair, “you’re giving me a headache.”

“Sorry.”

“Now listen carefully, because this is very important. You can act like me, and you look like me so I need you to do this again, for a very special performance.”

“A special performance?”

“Right. I have managed to get a price on my head, yet again, and welllll…. I need you to be bait for a trap.”

“Why can’t I hallucinate something pleasant? Like lying on a beach in Hawaii, surrounded by blue sky? No I have to hallucinate you and being bait. Nice.” David grumbled.

“It’s obvious you’re still not getting this,” The Doctor slapped his knees before standing, “come with me.”

“Where are we going?” 

“Haven’t you ever wondered what a real TARDIS would be like?” The Doctor smiled at him, “I think a quick tour might be in order.”

He bounded off, running up on one of the ramps before realising David hadn’t followed him, but was still sitting on the jump seat, he sighed, “Come on! You have always dreamed of this, I can see that in your mind, so why deny yourself the opportunity!” he called out over the railing.

David rose and followed him, “I guess madness has some perks.” He smiled wryly, “this should be interesting.”

The Doctor showed off the TARDIS’ various rooms using his best teacher voice explaining what everything was and its history, at a break neck pace until they stopped at a TV room. He ushered David inside and stood in the doorway watching the actor take it all in. On one wall was a bookcase, filled to the brim with DVDs and video tapes, as David read the titles he saw The Doctor had all the “Doctor Who” episodes ranging from William Hartnell to himself all ordered chronologically. This made him laugh, “a bit of an ego problem?” 

“I find it interesting, amusing, and flattering.” The Doctor snapped a bit defensively.

For some reason that made David laugh even harder, and the tension eased and he decided if he was going to be mad, why not enjoy it? He sat down on one of the easy chairs and motioned for The Doctor to join him.

“This performance,” he started, “tell me about it.”


	2. Chapter 2

David listened to The Doctor’s plan, silently, taking it all in. He waited until he was finished before saying anything, “That makes sense to me, but I’m not sure they’ll fall for it.”

“You’re giving them too much credit for intelligence,” The Doctor countered, “you look like me, you can sound like me and you certainly can act like me, that’s all it will take.”

“Can I ask you something?” David leaned in, “you said earlier that the things that happen on the show really happened. Is that true?”

The Doctor smiled, “not all of it, I mean some things were ‘enhanced’ by the writers, or based on ideas they came up with all on their own and I don’t share all the adventures I have, some don’t turn out that well, and it would make me look bad.”

“How do they get the stories given to them?”

“From me, sometimes in a dream, sometime a whispered idea, etc.” The Doctor shrugged.

“So are the Daleks real?”

“Sadly.”

“The Cybermen?” 

“Yup.”

“How about Rose? Martha? Donna? The Master? Captain Jack? Slitheen? Oh and have you really regenerated ten times?” David asked his words spilling out at 90 miles an hour.

“Great…a fan-boy! I should have known. You are hopeless.” The Doctor sat back frowning, then seeing the eager look on the other man’s face took a deep breath, “Yes they all exist and no I haven’t regenerated ten times. You humans made that up just because you can’t stick with anything more than five years without getting bored.”

David ignored that obvious jab at himself and pressed on, “so which ones did we get wrong?”  
The Doctor made a dismissive gesture, “the crucial thing is they got you right. Now can we move on to more important things?”

“Like what?”

The Doctor regarded him a moment, “Wellll…for one. That outfit. Did you wear that on a dare?”

David looked at himself, “What’s wrong with this?”

“Who wears an ‘Underdog’ tshirt and jeans with holes in them over the age of twelve?”

“You can talk, who wears trainers and a rumpled suit?”

The Doctor laughed, “well you do, for starters.”

“Only because you do,” David laughed back, “OK but the costume is at the studio and I don’t have a key to the wardrobe room.”

The Doctor only smiled, “I have an extra suit, the blue one, I am pretty sure it’ll fit you.”

“Right…”

As David was changing into the suit, The Doctor leaned against a railing watching him, “the resemblance is pretty uncanny. Are you sure you’re not part Time Lord?”

“I’m beginning to wonder myself but I don’t have a fob watch or anything and I only have one heart,” he replied, buttoning the coat closed, then looked up, “You do have two don’t you? I mean that’s true? Someone didn’t just make that up?”

The Doctor nodded, “you have one too many freckles though.”

“You’ve counted them all? Right, so where is this ‘extra’ one?” 

The Doctor stood closer to him and held out his right hand, “I have four right here,” he pointed, “you have five. But it’s not a deal breaker, I doubt in the thick of things anyone is going to count that high.”

David finished getting dressed and stood next to The Doctor, and then they both looked in the mirror that ran a long the opposite wall, David spoke first, “That is a wee bit creepy.”

“It’s perfect,” The Doctor smiled, “now, let’s go over this again!”


	3. Chapter 3

As the TARDIS grew closer to their destination David was having second thoughts about the plan.

“Explain to me again how this is supposed to work?” he asked trying to sound casual, but by the way he was jiggling his feet on the jump seat it was clear he was getting extremely nervous.

The Doctor stopped his fiddling with the controls and looked over his glasses at the actor, “it’s very simple, you are going to have my scent because you’re wearing my suit, the sound replicator in the breast pocket will echo your one heart beat to sound like two, and so you won’t be sussed out as not being me.”

“Got that part. Skip to how, when they capture me, you’re going to rescue my sorry ass before they skin me alive.”

The Doctor smiled, “oh they don’t skin their captives. Unless they have valuable fur and human fur is sort of sparse even in the best of specimens, possible exception being Robin Williams and you’re not nearly that furry therefore you don’t qualify so you’re in no danger there…”

“I didn’t mean literally being skinned!” David interrupted, “what I meant was, how…I mean, when ah…oh never mind.”

“And why is your ass sorry?”

“It’s a figure of speech,” then more to himself David grumbled, “to be honest it’s not the only part of me that’s sorry right now.”

The Doctor sat next to him, “it’s going to be brilliant! You just need to go into the restaurant, sit at the table, and order something, like a chocolate milkshake. They are amazing there, very thick and quite tasty. You do like those don’t you?”

David nodded.

“Good! Then you just wait, the spies that hang around places like that will spot you and then they’ll notify the bounty hunters and they will confront you. You will want to put up a bit of a fuss, but not too much that they’ll try anything desperate. I want you to be like how you were at the end of ‘The Family of Blood’ that was really brilliant acting, I mean even I was a bit scared! Love that look when you wrapped that guy in chains…” The Doctor stopped, a half smile on his face, and then looking off into the distance his smile faded, “anyway. That is the mood. I’ve seen you do it, just do that, precisely that.”

“I’ll track you on the monitor,” The Doctor continued, gesturing in the general direction of the console, “and once they take you to their base I’ll get you out.”

“What I’m still not getting, is why let them take me there at all?” David countered.

“They have someone else. Someone I care about,” The Doctor finally admitted, his voice soft, “and they’ve hidden their base so well I can’t find it. And time’s running out.”

“What do you mean ‘time’s running out’?”

“As in ‘kill’, as in ‘dead’, as in ‘kaput’ if we don’t find out the location of their base.”

“Who do they have?” David asked.

“They have the woman you would know as Martha, that’s not her real name of course, I didn’t think she’d appreciate a bunch of anoraks hounding her so as they used to say on those old shows, ‘the names were changed to protect the innocent’ but all the details are the same. Anyway, she was taken and I have to find her before it’s too late.” 

Both men grew silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts until they were jarred back to the present by the sound of the TARDIS landing. 

“We’re here!” The Doctor jumped up and ran to the doors, scooping up the long coat from where he had tossed in on one of the struts, “it’s show time!”

David took a deep breath and got to his feet, The Doctor watched the transformation as it happened. As David walked to the doors he literally became The Doctor and the real thing watched him approach with fascination. The body language, the set of the eyes, the tilt of the head was like looking in a mirror The Doctor mused. 

Before stepping out into the restaurant David took one more deep breath and squared his shoulders. The Doctor stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, “wait, you’re forgetting something very important!”

David turned to him, still in character, his accent gone and in an almost perfect imitation of The Doctor’s own voice, asked, “what am I forgetting?” 

“This,” The Doctor held out the coat, “good luck, Doctor.” He smiled and waited until he could no longer see David’s retreating form before quietly shutting the TARDIS doors and going to view the actor’s progress on the monitor.


	4. Chapter 4

Before he got to the main dining room David slipped on the coat. Unlike the one he wore for the show, this one was quite light and was made of very soft suede material. He absently stroked a sleeve a few times before catching himself. 

“Just imagine a camera crew,” he said under his breath as he opened the doors.

He almost faltered in his stride when all eyes in the room turned to him. Some of those eyes glanced up from alien faces that he thought the BBC special effects team would most likely sell their souls to be able to recreate, he mused even as he was painfully aware that they were watching his progress to one of the tables.

The waitress rushed over as he took his seat, “hello handsome, it’s been a while,” she cooed running her fingers over the table to touch his arm, “the usual?”

He nodded and she leaned forward a bit more, “I’ll get that right out, sweetie!” she giggled and traipsed off. David couldn’t help but smile at her obvious hip roll as she walked away, her already skin tight uniform threatening to burst at the seams with her efforts.

“Now there’s something they’d never allow on the show,” he thought with a laugh.

The beings in the booth next to him made no effort to disguise that they were staring at him. He met their gaze coolly, his left eyebrow cocked, until they quickly looked away. 

As the waitress returned with a tall silver cocktail shaker full of what he guessed was a chocolate shake he was struck that he wasn’t sure how he was going to pay for it. Did The Doctor carry money? 

David felt in the inner breast pocket of the coat and pulled out a rubber mouse, followed by a sparkly purple pen, a small knitted bear, a ball made of a mismatched jumble of elastic bands, a yellow smiley face button, a handful of marbles, a piece of paper with scribbling on every available inch, a matchbook with three matches left and a solitary playing card. There was more in the pocket but he decided to stop there, almost sure the next thing he’d pull out would be the body of Jimmy Hoffa. 

As she set the shaker and a glass down the waitress eyed the collection of stuff on the table and flashed him a big grin, “don’t worry honey it’s on the house. You know Magrett would never let you pay.”

He raised the glass in a mock toast, “my regards to Magrett,” hoping that was the right thing to say. 

It seemed to be because the waitress laughed loudly, a shrill sound that made his ears hurt. She turned gave a finger wave to someone in the general direction of the kitchen then turned back to him, “enjoy!

The last thing David was thinking about was food, but he had to keep up the façade so he unwrapped a straw and put it into the thick shake, it was still too solid to drink so he took a spoonful and put it in his mouth. As it hit his taste buds he had to agree with The Doctor, this place did make the best chocolate shake he had ever tasted.

As he took another spoonful he saw a rather large, very blue and quite imposing looking creature pointing at him. 

“This is it,” he said to himself and with a casualness he didn’t feel he set the spoon down, folded his hands on the table and waited.

The creature stomped over to him, “Doctor!” it barked at him. Then in a rush the creature lifted him up off the seat and enveloped him in a bear hug and then ran a wet tongue over the side of his face and planted a sloppy kiss on the top of his head, “it’s so good to see you again!” With that the creature released him, dropping him back on the seat and took the seat opposite.

David tried not to dwell on the sensation of the creature’s spit drying in his hair and running down his neck soaking the collar of his shirt. He figured it would be considered rude to wipe it off but couldn’t quite suppress the shiver as the rapidly cooling, gooey substance slid down his skin.

Inside the TARDIS The Doctor almost doubled over in laughter, he would have warned David about the way the Erbecs greeted friends and loved ones had he even considered one would be there. But watching the actor struggle to maintain his composure was pretty damned funny, and there was a slight bit of “better him than me” mixed into his mirth.

Back in the restaurant the Erbec grabbed David’s hands in his huge mitts and his three eyes looked worried, “There’s a price on your head! You really shouldn’t be here, it’s not safe” 

“That’s precisely why I’m here,” David replied, as he gently removed his hands from the creature’s grip, “they have my friend.”

The creature sat back with a sigh, “I will make an offering to the Patriarchs of the Tin Vagabond in your honour.” He shook his head sadly, then rose to turn and walk away without another word.


	5. Chapter 5

Both The Doctor, hidden in the TARDIS and David, sitting alone again at the table, were keeping watch on the other creatures in the restaurant. 

After a while David noted that the chocolate shake was just getting to the right consistency to drink so he bent his head down and took a long pull on the straw. As he did so The Doctor saw a small silver object fly over the actor’s head and hit the wall behind him. He shouted, “look out!” at the image on the monitor, his voice echoing through the console room.

But of course David couldn’t hear him, instead he straightened up, picked up the glass and repositioned the straw before leaning back against the wall to drink some more of the shake. He took another long pull on the drink, and another before reaching forward to set the glass down on the table. The change in his position was met with yet another silver object hitting the wall, this time where his shoulder had been just moments before. 

The Doctor’s hands flew up to his head and he grabbed handfuls of his hair tugging at the strands making some them stand straight up. It wasn’t that he didn’t expect something to happen but watching this and not rushing out to save David was going against his every impulse. 

By slightly changing the angle of the monitor The Doctor tracked where the silver objects were coming from, just over the lip of the window leading into the kitchen he saw Magrett hunched down holding a blowgun to his lips. He whipped his glasses off in frustration, and turned away from the monitor. 

Suddenly a little voice in his head urged him to turn back around, he quickly scooped up his glasses, putting them on and bent to the monitor just in time to see David’s hand fly up to his neck with a slightly puzzled look, then his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell face first onto the table with a thud.

The scene in the restaurant changed in a heartbeat. The creatures in the surrounding booths all seemed to be in a desperate hurry to be elsewhere almost running each other down to escape. Soon the only ones left in the room were Magrett, the waitress and a very unconscious David.

The waitress stood next to David and stroked his hair tenderly, “sorry honey’ she cooed, “but you’re worth more as a captive than as a customer.”

Magrett lifted David from the table and laid him on the floor, taking care to step out of arm’s reach should he suddenly regain consciousness. Then he turned to the waitress, “did you call them?” he asked her without taking his eyes of the prone figure, “if he wakes before they get here we’ll be in big trouble.”

The Doctor hadn’t realised he’d been holding his breath until he let out a gasp of relief to see that David was still breathing. Who knows what was on those silver projectiles, he fussed, but thankfully whatever it was wasn’t fatal to humans.

The Doctor’s relief was short lived when he saw who had come to collect the counterfeit him, “gotcha” he hissed, his eyes narrowing, as they lifted the unconscious man off the floor and carried him out of the restaurant.


	6. Chapter 6

Inside the TARDIS The Doctor rushed around the controls stopping briefly to monitor the progress of the ship that was carrying David away. When it finally landed, so did he. He watched them on the monitor and waited until they had carried their prize into their lair before exiting the TARDIS.

After he was unceremoniously dumped onto a hard cot in a cell David started to come out of his drug induced slumber. The first thing he was aware of was he had a raging headache, and it didn’t help that someone was repeatedly shouting nearby. He sat up with a groan, cradling his pounding head in his hands before opening up his eyes. 

“Doctor!” the voice shouted again. 

It took a half second for him to connect that the voice was calling for him; he turned his head with a wince trying to find the source of the noise and saw a beautiful young black woman in the cell next to him.

“Oh thank god you’re awake! Are you all right?” The woman asked, her brow furrowed in a frown.

“I will be,” he replied. Then he realised this was the real Martha, or whatever her name was. He quickly tried to recall if The Doctor had said what her real name was, but with no success, “are you OK?” he asked.

“They don’t really want me, they want you. I was just the bait to reel you in,” she replied her voice sad, “they’ve just been holding me here. I’ve been treated all right though.”

She wanted to say more, but they were interrupted by a loud screech from a speaker set in the opposite wall that made David’s already tender head feel like it was going to explode, then a commanding voice barked, “no talking in the cells! Miranda Jones, step away from The Doctor!”

Miranda? David laughed and thought to himself, “sure ‘the names were changed to protect the innocent’ but not by much.”

For her part Miranda looked very concerned by his laughter, she whispered through the bars, “are you completely sure you’re all right?”

“Still a bit groggy,” David admitted, “and I would sell my soul for an aspirin.”

Miranda gasped, “This situation’s not that bad, suicide doesn’t seem necessary!”

Oh right, David remembered, aspirin is poison to a Time Lord! “Well…it is a killer headache.” He quipped, making her shoulders slump in relief and a smile cross her face.

The speaker screeched again, “No talking in the cells!” 

“Or what?” Miranda challenged, her chin jutting out defiantly with her hands on her hips.

She no sooner got that out when a spark of electricity hit the bars of her cell issuing a massive jolt, making her yelp in surprise and fall to the floor.  
“Stop that!” David shouted, “it isn’t necessary to hurt her!”

Miranda picked herself up with a glare, “Bastards” she seethed and made a rude gesture in the general direction of the speaker and stretched out on her cot, eyes closed.

Even though his brain felt like it was still trying to pound its way out of his skull David found the fog clearing and he took a moment to assess the situation. What would The Doctor do? 

Remembering the jumble of things in the coat pocket he quickly searched all the rest of the pockets in the coat, coming up with more trinkets but nothing terribly useful. Then he felt something in the jacket pocket of the suit, and pulled out the sonic screwdriver. 

The real thing was much heavier than the prop and the symbols etched into the sides made no sense to him. With his back turned to Miranda so she couldn’t see him struggling to get it to work, and a few fumbling tries he got it switched it on and toyed with the settings. The first setting seemed to only heat the thing up to where it burnt his fingers to touch it, so he rotated the dial a bit. The next one rewarded him with a soft vibration, when he pressed the button.

By turning the dial around at the end of the screwdriver the vibration increased. Perfect! He thought, and held it up to the lock on the cell door. It instantly clicked open and he ran over to repeat that action on Miranda’s cell. Her eyes flew open and a big smile crossed her face as she stepped out into the hallway.

She pointed to a security camera, and indicated he should use the screwdriver on that too, David silently prayed that this setting would take that out too as he held it up to the camera. He was rewarded with the thing sparking and briefly catching on fire before falling off its mount to the floor with a bang. They both froze as it hit the ground, hoping the noise didn’t attract unwanted attention, David was the first to move, taking Miranda by the hand and pulling her towards the exit. 

They had just made it through the door when David heard the distinct click and whine of a weapon being armed and the barrel of it was jabbed into the small of his back. He stopped, and it felt as if his heart dropped to his toes as the command was given to put up his hands and he felt Miranda being yanked away from him.

He turned to face his capturers with his best Doctor glare, and stared each one of them in the eye. He almost broke character as he realised one of the assembled thugs was wearing an Underdog T-shirt and ripped jeans as well as a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. He bit back a smile as he let them lead him back into the building.


	7. Chapter 7

As they reentered the building Miranda was shoved into one of the cells by one of the black clad thugs and David felt a strong grip on his arms halting his progress. He was held firm and someone, whom he could only assume was the leader got in close to his face, “enough games Doctor! You will tell me what I want to know or you will suffer the consequences and so will your human! You! Take him to the interrogation room!”

David’s heart skipped a beat at those last words but he was instantly reassured when he realised the strong hands holding his arms belonged to the man in the Underdog T-shirt. 

As he was taken to the interrogation room The Doctor whispered to him, “I don’t know what they want from me, well you, sorry. So we’re going to have to play along. I’ve fused the controls on the interrogation device, so even at the highest settings all it will do is give you a mild shock, but you have to act as if you’re in great pain. You’ll need to scream, and struggle. Like in ‘Human Nature’ the chameleon arch scene.”

“Now who’s the fan boy?” David snorted.

The Doctor chuckled quietly, “oh and as you’re strapped down, fight it and say something witty so I have a reason to punch you in the mouth.” Before David could say anything, The Doctor continued, “don’t worry it won’t be too hard, but you need to react like it is.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence until the door to the room was unlocked and The Doctor shoved David roughly through the open doorway. Then two more thugs joined The Doctor and they lifted him up and placed him on a metal table, and began to secure the restraints. 

Remembering the instructions he was given David kicked one of the thugs hard in the chest as he tried to strap his leg down. The Doctor grabbed one of his wrists and then jerked it like David had tried to pull his arm away, “this seems like an odd way to get a first date,” David quipped, “you could just try flowers, or maybe one of those heart shaped box of chocolates...”

The Doctor’s eyes got really wide as he tried not to laugh, but true to the plan he landed a semi-hard punch on David’s jaw before continuing to secure his arm to the table. 

Once all the straps were in place the leader sauntered over the table and repositioned it so David was titled into a half reclining position. He leaned in really close to David’s face, “Are you going to tell me now? Or do I have to get serious?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” David replied honestly.

“It’s going to be like that then?” The other hissed, “why don’t you save yourself, and your human a lot of grief and just tell me?”

“What is it you want?”

“As if you don’t know,” The leader replied.  
“Humour me and let’s pretend I don’t,” David urged.

The leader snorted and turned to the control room; “Setting two!” he called out.

As the electricity hit his body David rethought the term “mild”. The shock was definitely unpleasant. It was not exactly painful, but more like walking on plush carpeting in stocking feet in the dry winter months and touching something metal. He arched his back slightly and let out a soft gasp through clenched teeth, figuring setting two was probably not the worst; he wanted to save the full on screaming for a higher number. He stole a glance at The Doctor who gave him a slight nod of approval and then he allowed himself a shaky breath as if he was recovering from the impact. 

The leader leaned over him, “that was a warning just a taste of what’s to come. It’s going to be much worse if you don’t tell me.”

“How can I tell you if I have no idea what it is you want?” David asked, letting a note of exasperation tinge his voice.

“Being brave will not save your hide! If that’s the way you want to play this. Fine by me! Setting ten!” He called out. Then he watched with some satisfaction as the man he thought was The Doctor convulsed and bit back a scream, and then he signaled for the current to be cut.

With each jolt and the ever-climbing numbers being called out David increased his reactions. Each time there was a bit of a break and he was asked the same question in many different forms. But since neither he, nor The Doctor had any idea what it was that he wanted David was beginning to feel this was not going to end any time soon and he was concerned his voice was going to give out. 

That and the repeated shocks were beginning to get on his nerves.

It seemed the leader was arriving at some conclusion of his own, and his patience was coming to an end, he grabbed a handful of David’s hair and yanked his head off the table to get in inches from the actor’s face, “I want the Warp Star, I heard you took it from one of your pets and have it stashed somewhere in your TARDIS. I am a reasonable being, you give it to me and I’ll let you and your human girl go.”


	8. Chapter 8

After a few more rounds of this the leader gave up and ordered David released and returned to his cell. He felt fine, of course, but he knew that had those jolts been as intense as they were meant to be, he wouldn’t be in the best of form. He allowed himself a slight stumble once he was lifted to his feet, and then squaring his shoulders he glared at the assembled thugs before they half dragged him back to the prison area.

Miranda watched him approach with concern in her eyes but she said nothing until they were alone. 

“Are you all right?” she whispered, her face pressed close the bars.

“I’m always all right,” David replied.

She grimaced at that, clearly not believing him, but chose to move on, “Did you find out what they wanted?” 

Not sure of the security of the cells and the wisdom of divulging too much, David just nodded and sat on the edge of the cot. Suddenly it hit him hard how much trouble they were really in. He had lost himself in the role, which was not unusual, but this had so much more potential for danger if not done right. It wasn’t like he would get a second take if he blew his lines or a break for tea if his energy lagged. 

Miranda noticed the worried look on the man she believed to be The Doctor’s face, and her heart skipped a beat. If The Doctor was uneasy then the situation must be far worse than she had allowed herself to imagine. She wracked her brains trying to come up with something to say to ease his mind, but everything she came up with was trite and would ring false even to her. So instead she just reached her hands through the bars and gently massaged his shoulders.

Even though it felt really good David was aware The Doctor wouldn’t allow such contact for that long a time so he gently moved out of her reach and stretched out on the cot. His eyes closed but his mind was going a mile a minute.

For her part Miranda sighed and sat on the floor of her cell her back against where David lay and looked out the small window set high on the wall.

As the night fell, Miranda went to sleep on her cot while David, despite his best efforts to relax was wide awake, he gave up fighting to remain still and started pacing the length of his cell wonder where the hell The Doctor was and how the hell he was going to get out of this and back home. 

Just when David was about to give into despair The Doctor came running down the corridor at break neck speed, ducking random blasts of blue sparks being fired at him and opened the cell doors, “Run!” he commanded and the two humans did so with no hesitation. 

David and Miranda followed The Doctor not quite sure where he was leading them but hoping they were heading to someplace far away and in the best possible scenario, towards a small blue box.

As they were pulled behind a boulder David noted that The Doctor’s baseball cap had come off at some point, and half a second later, Miranda realised it too. She stopped and looked at the two of them, her mouth hanging slightly open. She made a small squeaking sound as she quickly shifted her eyes from David, and then to The Doctor and back again. 

“Someone want to tell me what’s going on?” She demanded.

“No time,” the two men said in unison. 

Once they realised they had said the exact same thing they both laughed a bit but then The Doctor peaked over the edge of the boulder cutting their mirth short, “I’ll explain later” he assured her.

Miranda stood back, her arms folded and her chin jutting out defiantly, “I’m not going anywhere until someone tells me what the hell is going on here.”

The Doctor regarded her silently then nodded to himself, “Miranda this is David. He’s an actor. He’s been playing me, on that TV show.”

“Wow!” she turned to David a smile on her face, “you had me fooled! You do a pretty convincing Doctor even in real life. I am a big fan of the show even if they made my character a total sop!”

“Thank you!” David replied in his own voice, “that is too kind. And I don’t think Martha was a sop, she was very brave and…”

“Enough gushing fan stuff!” The Doctor snapped, cutting him short, “we can all kiss each others egos later.”

Miranda smiled wider, “he hates it when no one is fawning over him.” She joked.

The Doctor glared at her, “we have bigger things to worry about…”

“Yeah, like that outfit,” Miranda joked, giving The Doctor the once over.

“Blame him,” The Doctor jerked his thumb at David, “these are his clothes!”

“What’s wrong with that outfit?” David asked, “I like that t-shirt!”

“I told him he dressed like a twelve year old,” The Doctor continued.

“At least he changes his clothes once in a while,” Miranda snorted, “you should consider keeping those jeans though, they look good on you.”

The Doctor looked down at himself, one eyebrow cocked but said nothing. Instead he peaked up over the edge of the boulder again, and then back at the two humans, “the TARDIS is just over that ridge. There are four guards out there between us and her, and we’re unarmed and there’s no way we can get past them like this.”  
David was quiet a beat longer than The Doctor felt comfortable with, finally he broke the silence, “What are you thinking?” he asked.

“If I can distract them you and Miranda can get to the TARDIS in the confusion,” he offered. 

“Why would you do that?” Miranda asked her brow set in a frown.

“Well, I am wearing the right outfit,” he laughed pointing at The Doctor, “if I let them chase me away from the direction of the TARDIS you can get there and then come back for me.”

“That’s too dangerous,” The Doctor protested.

“If you were in my place isn’t that what you’d do?” David shot back.

“Of course, but that’s not...” The Doctor started.

David straightened his shoulders, took a deep breath and started to climb up the boulder, “remember why they picked me,” he laughed mirthlessly and back in character he declared, “I am The Doctor!”

The Doctor smiled, and then he took Miranda’s hand in his, “when I say go start running.” He turned and gave David a two-fingered salute, “good luck, Doctor.”


	9. Chapter 9

David got to the top of the boulder and stood there for half a beat before taking off at a dead run down the slope and in the opposite direction from where the TARDIS was stashed. The armed guards, who were a bit slow on the uptake, watched him in confusion before it occurred to them that they probably should follow him. 

He rounded the edge of one of the larger rocks and ducked down waiting for the guards to run past and then took off in a different direction. As David looked back the guards they were pretty much falling over themselves trying to both execute a quick turn around and run with large guns in their hands. He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight despite the seriousness of the situation. 

As he turned back around he lost the little mirth he had when he realised he was now closing in on their leader who was holding a small black device in his hands. David scrabbled on the loose gravel trying to stop but before he could the leader raised the device and aimed it at his chest and fired it.

The effect was immediate; David stopped dead in his tracks. He felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his entire body. It didn’t hurt, but he quickly lost all feeling in his limbs, and dropped to the ground. As he lost consciousness he hoped that The Doctor and Miranda had gotten to the TARDIS and were safe.

The next thing David was aware of he was laying on the jump seat in the TARDIS, Miranda was hovering over him holding a damp flannel in her hand and, a frown of concern creasing her brow, “he’s awake!” she called over her shoulder.

The Doctor came into his focus and bent down low for a second, scanning him with the sonic screwdriver then nodding, “and it appears the effects are wearing off, finally.” He announced and stepped away again.

David sat up slowly, noting that he was back in his own clothes. His arms and legs had the unpleasant pins and needles feeling like had had slept on them funny. He rubbed his legs trying to get the sensation to pass.

“That’s going to take a while to clear,” The Doctor noted the actor’s discomfort, “the weapon was set for Time Lord physiology, I’m surprised it didn’t stop your heart.”

The Doctor then stopped, a puzzled expression on his face, “are you sure you’re not part Time Lord?”

“I’m not sure of anything,” David replied, his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool, and he had a really bad taste in his mouth, like he had eaten something both rancid and burnt. He tried to stand up but his legs didn’t seem to want to hold him so he sat back down.

Miranda handed him a small cup filled with water and took the seat next to him, “you were out for a while, don’t try to move too fast.”

The Doctor watched them in silence, his dark eyes unreadable until David finished the water and then he asked Miranda to leave them alone.

The Doctor took the seat that Miranda had just left and waited until she was completely out of sight before he began talking, “I can’t thank you enough. You were brilliant! But then again, I knew you would be!” he laughed, “you saved Miranda’s life and if I’m honest probably mine too.”

“You’re welcome, it’s been an honour,” David replied. Then he sat up a bit straighter, “but I’m guessing this is it, right? My memories of this will be wiped out if I’m not mistaken.”

The Doctor nodded sadly.

“Before you do that, can I ask just one question?” David continued.

“Of course,” The Doctor agreed.

“How many times have you really regenerated?”

The Doctor laughed, “that’s your big question? You could have asked if God really exists, or what was it like before the creation of Earth, or does Loch Ness really have a monster? You are such a fan boy!”

“Does that mean you’re not going to tell me?”

The Doctor’s face grew serious, “Five. This one is my favourite so far,” he admitted.

“Why is that?” 

The Doctor smiled, “because looking at you, I have decided I am one hot dude.” With that he laughed really hard until he remembered the task at hand.

He reached for the actor’s temples, but David pulled back, “one more thing. Will I remember any of this?”

The Doctor put his hands in his lap, “you deserve the memories because you created them so I think it’s best if I just make this all seem like a dream. A good one, of course.”

David smiled, “thanks.”

The Doctor leaned in again, his cool fingers touching the actor’s temples, a sad expression crossed his face as David fell back on the seat and went into a deep sleep.  
\----

Usually he was awake a few minutes before the alarm clock went off but this time the strains of “Fireflies” woke David out of a sound sleep, leaving him a bit disorientated and unsure of his surroundings.

He sat up and grabbed his glasses off of the bed stand, and groaned at the empty room. Those late night shoots got his body clock all out of whack, he thought, as the time on the clock showed him it was just past 2pm.

As he stepped out of bed he was surprised to find that his legs and arms were very sore like he had run a marathon in his sleep, but he quickly dismissed that as being one of the side effects of the weird schedule he was keeping.

After a hot shower he stumbled into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. There on the countertop was a take away cup with a straw stuck in it. He picked it up and felt that it was still cold. He pulled the top off and saw that inside it was a chocolate milk shake, just at the right consistency to drink it.

David held the cup in his hand and glanced around the flat. He was pretty sure he hadn’t put it there, and even if he had, sitting out on the counter all night it would have been slush. 

A strange image flashed in his mind, something about a waitress in a skintight uniform making a pass at him. He shook his head to clear it and took his shake to the table and sat down.

He took a sip of the shake cautiously and as the taste filled his mouth he sighed. This was the best shake he had ever tasted, he marveled. But where the hell did it come from?


End file.
